General Motors plans to produce its electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, by the end of 2010 despite skepticism at GM about that target, media reported Thursday.
GM is designing the Volt to run 40 miles on battery power alone, with an on-board gasoline-powered engine as a backup.
The Volt would be outfitted with new lithium-ion battery packs, which hold a charge longer than the nickel metal hydride batteries now used widely in automobiles.
Automakers say lithium-ion technology remains the biggest challenge in producing a plug-in as they try to lower the cost of the batteries and boost their power and storage capacity.
Bob Lutz, chief of GM'S global product development, said the Volt plug-in hybrid -- which GM plans to road-test early next year and produce by late 2010 -- is crucial to GM's efforts to snag the environmental technology crown from Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp.
GM is the only automaker to have provided a timeline on production even though other companies, such as Ford Motor Co and Toyota, are working on similar technology.
"We have to reestablish GM's leadership and the Volt is, frankly, an effort to leapfrog anything that is done by any other competitor," Lutz said.
Unlike earlier gasoline-electric hybrids, which run on a system that twins battery power and a combustion engine, plug-ins are designed for short trips powered entirely by an electric motor and a battery charged through a socket at home.